Enhanced Charging Handle

ABSTRACT

An enhanced charging handle for a firearm which has an elongated shaft having a forward end and a rear end. The forward end is formed into a bolt hook that engages the bolt carrier group within the firearm. Attached to the rear end is a latching assembly comprising an L-shaped latch, a vertical lever, and a compression spring where the latch and vertical lever are pivotably attached to the rear end. The latch and vertical lever operate together such that pivoting the vertical lever disengages the latch from the upper receiver of a firearm allowing the charging handle to be moved freely by the user independent of the upper receiver of the firearm.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates in general to firearms and more particularly to charging handles for firearms.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many modern firearms operate by utilizing a longitudinally reciprocating bolt within the firearm. A popular example of such a firearm is the M16 family of firearms which includes the AR-15. A reciprocating bolt configuration is typically contained within a receiver where it cannot be manually operated without partially disassembling the firearm. In instances where the bolt needs to be manually operated, such as moving the bolt into battery or clearing a jam or manually ejecting a cartridge, an externally accessible charging handle is employed to allow the firearm user to manually operate the bolt quickly without disassembling the firearm.

The original M16 charging handle is in the general shape of a T where the longer member is inserted into the receiver with a distal end that interfaces with the internal bolt. A horizontally oriented shorter member is attached at its center perpendicularly to a proximal end of the longer member, where it is grasped by the firearm user's fingers and pulled rearward when the bolt needs to be manually operated. The charging handle also employs a latch to keep the handle secured to the receiver in the forward position when not being used. A lever was placed in one side of the shorter member such that when the user pulled the charging handle rearward with their fingers, the lever will be depressed which in turn releases the latch allowing the user to move the charging handle into a fully rearward position along with the interconnected bolt.

Operating the charging handle properly and quickly is necessary in high-stress tactical situations such as moving the bolt into battery after reloading or to clear a firearm jam. Due to the importance of reliably operating the charging handle, some changes have been proposed to the original charging handle design. Most of the proposed changes involve incorporating a second lever into the other side of the short member, thus allowing ambidextrous operation of the unlatching mechanism. These proposed changes still leave the charging handle with deficient ergonomics which can prevent the user from moving the bolt via the charging handle in high-stress situations. The charging handle designs currently proposed can result in improper operation when the firearm user is wearing gloves, as many military and law enforcement personnel use, or when the user's hands are wet from sweat, water, mud, blood or other liquid.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, an apparatus is provided for an enhanced charging handle which allows a firearm user to reliably operate the charging handle. The apparatus replaces the existing charging handle with an improved charging handle with a lever that is vertically disposed as opposed to the designs currently used which utilize one or two horizontally disposed levers. The present invention's vertical lever incorporates more surface area for the firearm user to grasp when unlatching the charging handle and pulling the handle rearward. The improved ergonomics of the present invention enables the user to more reliably operate the charging handle when using gloves, when the user's fingers are wet, or where the user's fingers are injured and the user must improvise other means for operating the charging handle. The vertical lever may also be easily formed into shapes that allow ambidextrous operation.

In the preferred embodiment, the enhanced charging handle has an elongated shaft like the original charging handle in order to fit in the firearm without modification. Thus the present invention operates with any standard upper receiver and bolt. The present invention uses a v-shaped vertical lever to operate the latching mechanism. At the end of each leg of the v-shaped vertical lever is a finger pad which has a knurled concave forward face to receive the user's fingers. The vertical lever and finger pads in this configuration are much more ergonomic than any existing charging handle design due to having more surface area and friction with the user's fingers thus preventing the user's fingers from slipping off the lever. Using a vertical lever also creates more leverage to reliably unlatch the charging handle. The superior ergonomics and leverage make the enhanced charging handle much more reliable to operate in a variety of situations over the other charging handle designs currently proposed.

Other advantages and features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of its specific embodiment, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts an isometric exploded view of the enhanced charging handle in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 depicts a left side plan view of the enhanced charging handle in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 depicts a front plan view of the enhanced charging handle in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 depicts a rear plan view of the enhanced charging handle in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 depicts a top plan view of the enhanced charging handle in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 depicts an enlarged, isometric exploded view of the latching mechanism of the enhanced charging handle in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, and 5 the enhanced charging handle 10 has an elongated shaft 12 having a forward end 14 with a bolt hook 16 that engages the bolt carrier group (not shown). The charging handle 10 also has a rear end 18 having two parallel vertical arms 20 where one vertical arm 20 extends from the right side of the rear end 18 and the other vertical arm 20 extends from the left side of the rear end 18. The rear end 18 further has a longitudinal slot 22 on the left side and a rear-facing spring cavity 24 in the center.

Horizontally oriented within the slot 22 is an L-shaped latch 26 having a forward leg 28 and a rear leg 30. The latch 26 is pivotally attached to the rear end 18 by a vertically oriented roll pin 32 inserted through corresponding holes in the latch 26 and rear end 18. The forward leg 28 has an inward-facing tooth 34 at the distal end that can engage a lip on the upper receiver (not shown) thereby locking the charging handle 10 in the forward position when not in use.

A vertical lever 36, that is generally in the form of a V, is composed of two angularly divergent legs 38 which meet at a lever base 40 as shown in FIGS. 1-6. Both lever legs 38 are angled towards the rear of the firearm from vertical and are angled away from each other. The distal ends of the lever legs 38 each have a circular finger pad 42. The forward face of the finger pads 42 are concave with a knurled texture to provide maximum friction and grip with the user's fingers. The lever base 40 has a horizontal hole through it corresponding to holes in the ends of the vertical arms 20. The vertical arms 20 are spaced to receive the lever base 40 between them where a horizontally oriented roll pin 32 can be inserted through the corresponding holes in the vertical arms 20 and lever base 40 to attach the vertical lever 36 to the rear end 18 and provide for the vertical lever 36 to pivot about the roll pin 32. At the bottom of the lever base 40 is a forward facing protuberance 44 which rests against the rear of the rear leg 30.

FIGS. 1 and 6 show a compression spring 46 that fits into the spring cavity 24, forward of the rear leg 30. When at rest and extended, the compression spring 44 pushes the rear leg 30 rearward, forcing the forward leg 28 inward towards the upper receiver where the tooth 34 in the distal end of the forward leg 28 engages a lip in the upper receiver to lock the charging handle in the forward position. With the compression spring 46 in this position and with the rear leg 30 at its most rearward position, the rear leg 30 pushes the protuberance 44 rearward which pivots the lever legs 38 forward. FIGS. 2-5 illustrate the lever legs 38 pivoted forward with the compression spring 46 extended and forward leg 28 pivoted inward towards the shaft 12.

In operation, the user can use their fingers or palm to pull the finger pads 42 at the ends of the lever legs 38 rearward. This causes the vertical lever 36 to pivot and force the protuberance 44 forward against the rear leg 30. The rear leg 30 is thus forced forward, 

1. A charging handle for a firearm having a housing, comprising: a. an elongated shaft having a longitudinal axis, a forward end formed to engage a rifle action and a rear end; b. a lever pivotably attached to the rear end and oriented perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis; c. a latch pivotably attached to the rear end; d. a biasing element extending between the rear end and the latch; and wherein the lever and latch operate together such that pivoting the lever causes the latch to pivot from a closed position, engaged with the housing, to an open position, where the latch is disengaged from the housing.
 2. The charging handle of claim 1, wherein the biasing element comprises a spring.
 3. The charging handle of claim 1, wherein the biasing element comprises an elastomeric nub.
 4. The charging handle of claim 1, wherein the lever is shaped to permit ambidextrous operation.
 5. The charging handle of claim 1, wherein the lever is in the general form of a V.
 6. The charging handle of claim 1, wherein the lever pivots about a horizontal axis.
 7. The charging handle of claim 6, wherein the horizontal axis is perpendicular to the elongated shaft.
 8. A charging handle for a firearm having a housing, comprising: a. an elongated shaft having a longitudinal axis, a forward end formed to engage a rifle action and a rear end; b. a lever pivotably attached to the rear end and oriented perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis where the lever pivots about a horizontal axis and where the horizontal axis is perpendicular to the elongated shaft; c. a latch pivotably attached to the rear end; d. a biasing element extending between the rear end and the latch; and wherein the lever and latch operate together such that pivoting the lever causes the latch to pivot from a closed position, engaged with the housing, to an open position, where the latch is disengaged from the housing.
 9. The charging handle of claim 8, wherein the biasing element comprises a spring.
 10. The charging handle of claim 8, wherein the biasing element comprises an elastomeric nub.
 11. The charging handle of claim 8, wherein the lever is shaped to permit ambidextrous operation.
 12. The charging handle of claim 11, wherein the lever is in the general form of a V.
 13. A charging handle for a firearm having a housing, comprising: a. an elongated shaft having a longitudinal axis, a forward end formed to engage a rifle action and a rear end; b. a lever, in the general form of a V, pivotably attached to the rear end and oriented perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis where the lever pivots about a horizontal axis and where the horizontal axis is perpendicular to the elongated shaft; c. a latch pivotably attached to the rear end; d. a biasing element extending between the rear end and the latch; and wherein the lever and latch operate together such that pivoting the lever causes the latch to pivot from a closed position, engaged with the housing, to an open position, where the latch is disengaged from the housing.
 14. The charging handle of claim 13, wherein the biasing element comprises a spring.
 15. The charging handle of claim 13, wherein the biasing element comprises an elastomeric nub. 